I Will Remember You
by Karen11
Summary: Set during "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" - so spoilers if you haven't seen the film. Logan gets momentarily sidetracked when he visits Three-Mile Island.


Title: I Will Remember You

Author: Karen

Email:

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Marvel & Fox – I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG

Category: Drama

Universe: "X-Men Origins – Wolverine"

Summary: Logan gets momentarily sidetracked during his one-man assault on Three-Mile Island.

Author's notes: A lot of people have been trying to figure out when "Wolverine" is supposed to take place. Stryker recruited Logan and Victor during the Vietnam War – the time period of that segment could be as late as 1975. After Logan quit Stryker's team, it was six years before they came face-to-face again, but the amount of time he'd spent as part of the team was never specified.

Because I want to tie this in with X1, for the purpose of this story I'm placing the events in "Wolverine" after the famous Three-Mile Island meltdown in 1979. Stryker is able to use the tainted facility because nobody else wanted to.

~*~*~*

**Three-Mile Island - 1985**

Just as she had every morning for the past year, Joan felt guilty leaving her daughter in the facility's daycare center. The brown eyes, liquefied by soon to be spilled tears, haunted her throughout the workday. But the infamous 'meltdown' six years earlier and subsequent abandonment of the nearby town put the island too far from the nearest occupied hamlet to utilize one of their childcare centers. Besides, Joan preferred to have her daughter close enough to be able to check on her should the need arise. She wasn't too worried about any residual radiation because the government had assured the workforce that the problem had been contained and everything was perfectly safe. Like the other workers, she chose to believe that the lucrative pay wasn't compensation for the potential hazard.

She did, however, have many questions – like, 'What was the real *business* of the facility?' – because it sure didn't seem like they were working toward getting the reactors back on-line; which was the official objective. Most of the tasks involved lots of paperwork that amounted to absolutely nothing. They were proverbial hamsters on a wheel – running around in circles and going nowhere. A generous paycheck satisfied most of her co-workers' natural curiosity.

As her best friend Laura said, "As long as the check clears, I don't give a damn what they're doing in the lower levels."

"But what if the rumors are true – and something's going on with …"Joan paused and lowered her voice to a whisper, "mutants?"

"Margaret Stryker was crazy," Laura replied –referring to Colonel Stryker's wife who'd come to the facility ranting about mutants and secret experiments, "That's why she committed suicide."

"Do you really think she killed herself?"

"Well, I know most women would've just taken an overdose of pills and taking a power drill to her head was a bit extreme – but like I said," bringing her hand up to the side of her head and making a circular motion, "crazy."

"That poor child," Joan said, the child in question being the Stryker's young son – who'd ostensibly been sent to live with relatives after 'the incident'.

Little did most of the plant's employees know, Jason was actually currently frozen in a state of suspended animation in one of the chambers of the lower level.

"Let it go, Joan. Do yourself a favor and don't go looking for trouble," Laura suggested.

On the surface Stryker seemed pleasant enough, but Laura suspected that a dangerous man lurked behind the public façade and anyone who dared to step beyond their security clearance would discover his true nature. If even half the whispers about him were true – she didn't want to acknowledge them – especially out loud. She preferred to be well paid and ignorant.

With a resigned sigh, Joan returned to her mind-numbingly boring spreadsheet. She knew Laura was right. Even if something nefarious was going on in the limited security clearance lower levels, there was nothing she could do about it – so there was no point in letting it continue to frustrate her.

As far as Joan was concerned, she and her husband Martin, who was one of the plant's maintenance men, were just too damn far north of the Mason-Dixon line. As soon as they'd saved enough money for a small down payment on a house, they were returning to Mississippi.

~*~*~*

Logan emerged from the water on the Island's southern side. He was still a short hike from the low-level security entrance Le Beau had told him about. With his newfound conscience, he'd rather take out a security camera than a living, breathing person.

Shaking the water off him as best he could, he sloshed his way across the gravel.

He managed to make it across the Island without incident and located the building he needed to access. In order to avoid the camera's detection zone, he was pressed tightly against the door. Raising his left arm, he released one of the adamantium blades and quickly disabled the camera.

Slipping into the building, he wondered how long his luck would hold. Not that he didn't mind a good fight every now and then, but Remy had told him that civilians were on the premises and Logan didn't want to risk any innocent people getting caught in the crossfire.

He moved down the hallway as quietly and quickly as possible. He went past small offices occupied by what appeared to be generic clerks. This particular building apparently housed the faux operation that was used to cover up the facility's true purpose – which explained the scant security.

So far so good.

~*~*~*

The woman in charge of the daycare center wanted to get back to watching "General Hospital" and wasn't too pleased that one of her charges was refusing to take a nap.

"Fine, don't lay down. Just sit there being quiet," she told the little girl in front of her.

She turned around, walked out of the playroom and left her sitting there.

Clutching her small cloth rabbit the little girl pulled her knees up toward her chest. She used one of the bunny's raggedy ears to wipe away the tear that was making a wet path down her right cheek.

At that precise moment an intruder was passing by.

Whenever Logan was on a mission, he was always able to remain completely focused on the task at hand. Which was why he was unprepared to be distracted.

Halfway down the bank of windows that comprised the daycare center, he stopped dead in his tracks. Turning to his left, he saw what caused the interruption.

Surrounded by small sleeping bodies was a little girl of about three who was using the ear of her stuffed animal as a tissue.

Logan's enhanced senses allowed him to hear the hitch in her breathing.

For reasons unknown to him, he found himself opening the door and slipping into the playroom.

Almost as if she was expecting him, she wasn't startled when he knelt down beside her.

"Hi," he said simply.

She looked up at him with wet brown eyes that seemed to shoot straight into his soul. To say that he was caught off-guard was an understatement.

He reached out and gently thumbed away another tear. She didn't even flinch.

"Are you a stranger?" she queried.

Logan wasn't exactly sure how to answer. He was most definitely a stranger – in every sense of the warning her parents had no doubt given her, but he didn't want to spook her.

"My name is James," he offered softly.

Favoring him with a small smile, she replied, "Marie."

Logan's hearing picked up the imminent return of the attendant, so it was time for him to make a hasty exit. He gently kissed her on the forehead before standing up and walking away.

As he stole out of the room, he glanced back at her. She raised a tiny hand and waved at him.

A short while later all hell broke loose.

In the midst of the fight with Deadpool atop the #3 cooling tower, Logan glanced down to see the plant's employees pouring out of the numerous buildings. Amongst the evacuees was a young brunette woman tightly holding the pre-schooler he'd encountered earlier. The little girl was still clutching her raggedy bunny.

He wanted to leap off the tower and make sure she got to safety, but a sharp jab to his abdomen reminded him that wasn't possible at the moment.

By the time the fight was over and the dust had settled, the woman and the child were nowhere in sight.

When the adamantium bullet took him down, it was her and not Kayla that he thought of as he timbered over and hit the gravel.

~*~*~*

**Epilogue: Fifteen years later**

Logan was frantic.

He'd removed his glove and pressed his bare hand against Rogue's cheek but nothing was happening. Her mutation wasn't engaging and taking his healing power as it had done when he'd accidentally stabbed her. She was still limp in his arms.

At the train station he'd promised to take care of her and he'd be damned if he was going to renege on that. Usually his promises were more akin to threats – "I'm gonna gut you, bub." – but with her it was different. For the first time in his life (well, the one he remembered anyway), he felt a strong sense of responsibility. It wasn't merely an urge to protect her – it was an absolute need.

He refused to accept that he was too late to save her.

In a move that seemed vaguely familiar – although he didn't know why – he pressed his lips against her forehead. What seemed like forever, but in reality was only seconds later; he felt the tickle of electricity as her mutation finally kicked in.

Along with his life force, Rogue also absorbed Logan's memories – including the ones even he didn't remember.

She saw him kneel down in front of a little girl who was clutching a raggedy bunny … the same threadbare childhood toy that resided on her bed back at the mansion.

As the inky darkness of unconsciousness claimed him, Logan heard her murmur, "James."


End file.
